Why snowdrops set me off: The sight of a patch star-spangled with snowdrops is the spark that fires the gardening year, says Monty Don

At this time of year my garden slips into a fresh gear, driven entirely by the snowdrops. The actual moment can vary from before Christmas until February, but usually at some point in January the path in our narrow Spring Garden will be star-spangled on either side by thousands of them.

That for me is the spark that fires my gardening year and every day thereafter is touched with excitement.

Earlier this month I suggested that this is a good moment to lift and divide snowdrops, while they are still in flower, and there is no doubt that this is the best way to create a massed effect quickly. But they naturally spread – slowly – by seed.

Fror Monty snowdrops blaze the trail for the whole year of gardening

I planted snowdrops in my garden 15 years ago now and they have spread themselves – at the rate of a few inches a year.

Left to their own devices they will gradually carpet the entire area they occupy which has the rich, damp soil that they love and some shade, which also suits them. But it also means that the vast carpets of snowdrops you sometimes see take years – often centuries – to develop, so these gentle flowers are a kind of historical monument.

ASK MONTY...

Q Is it possible to re-use last year’s potting compost in my containers?

Len Evans, Devon

A No. This is a false economy. Potting compost is a very complex mixture of nutrients, bacteria and fungi. You should always replace old compost when replanting any container and long-term planting should have a fresh layer of garden compost every spring and be repotted every two or three years.

Q When should I prune a damson tree that’s being trained as a cordon?

Roger Clarke, Cambridgeshire

A I’ve never come across a damson being trained as a cordon – that is as a single stem with sideshoots that bear fruit – and I expect it will not be very happy. As a rule damsons are only pruned when they are damaged or intrusive. They make a small, untidy tree and are best left to their own devices. If you must prune them the best time to do so is in mid-summer to avoid the risk of excessive ‘bleeding’.

Q How can I get my poinsettia’s bracts to turn red by next Christmas?

Mrs Margaret Lee, Devon

A Prune it down to about 10cm (4in) above the pot after the leaves fall off in February or March. Then place in a mild, shady spot and keep it dry until May when it should be repotted and kept warm and humid. At the end of September keep it in complete darkness for 14 hours a day for eight weeks. Then if it is brought into the light and watered it should produce its bright-red bracts.

Write to Monty Don at Weekend, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email monty.don@dailymail.co.uk. Please include your full name and address. We regret Monty can’t reply to letters personally.

The pollination of snowdrop seeds depends upon two things – some sunny, mild weather and the insects to spread the pollen.

Obviously the mild weather is more likely as winter edges into spring and one of the disadvantages of climate change is that an increasing number of flowers are appearing, ready for pollination, before the pollinators are out and about.

The outer petals of a snowdrop flower open to the horizontal when the temperature rises to about 10°C and this is when it attracts insects.

The green markings on the inner petals of every snowdrop flower are said to glow in ultraviolet light which is another enticement for pollinators like the queen bumblebees – which can see in the UV spectrum – that one watches bobbing around in the winter sun.

Snowdrops are probably not native. There is no reference to them growing wild before 1770, and indeed, the first garden reference is not until 1597. So ‘wild’ snowdrops are in fact garden escapees and, for all their charming naturalness, they are a cultivated flower.

There are more than 350 species and cultivars, and ‘galanthophiles’ – from the Latin name for snowdrops, Galanthus nivalis – collect snowdrops obsessively. Now I confess that the common Galanthus nivalis will do me fine although I do love the double ‘Flore Pleno’.

This is sterile, so will not spread from seed, but because it does not produce seed it has the bonus that the flowers last longer.

Snowdrops are good as a cut flower if you pick them with a longish stalk, and just a small posy in a delicate vase lights up a winter room. They have a surprisingly strong honeyed fragrance drawn out by the heat of a room although the flowers last longer if kept cool.

They are also ideal for growing in pots. Use a general purpose potting compost to plant a small clump in each pot from October to December. Keep them outside in a cool corner, bringing them into the sun in the New Year.

You can bring the pots indoors to make a lovely houseplant, although again, the flowers will last longer outside in the cool.

They won’t need repotting or feeding every year, but keep them watered from October through to June and every three or four years take them out of the pot, divide them into three, repot into fresh compost and let them get on with it.

Advertisement

Share or comment on this article:

Why snowdrops set me off: The sight of a patch star-spangled with snowdrops is the spark that fires the gardening year, says Monty Don